Cranford teenager travels to Cuba to perform at U.S. military base

CRANFORD — Traveling halfway down the coast alone would be a big deal for many 14-year-olds, but for Maia DiDomenico, that was only the beginning of her adventures.

The Cranford High School student recently returned from Cuba, where she and fellow members of her mixed martial arts team performed for U.S. troops at the naval base in Guantanamo Bay.

Maia met her team in Florida, which then traveled together to Cuba via military transport.

Maia is a member of Sideswipe, a Los Angeles-based performance team that performs high-energy shows that combine integrated mixed martial arts and acrobatics. The team consists of performers all over the county. The show, Maia said, is like a combination of karate and gymnastics and involves “a lot of flipping, tumbling and hand techniques.”

“I’ve been going to a (martial arts) camp in Chicago for months by myself,” Maia said, adding that she and a girl from California were the first two females to travel with the team. “Then I got asked to go to Cuba to perform for our troops.”

The team gave three performances, at an elementary school, a downtown shopping area (which she described as “a lot like downtown Cranford, but with military people walking around”) and the home of a U.S. general.
“We were treated very well,” Maia said.

The trip lasted a week, and it was intense. She flew in on a Wednesday, learned five forms on Thursday, and performed for the first time on Friday, said Maia , who has been studying mixed martial arts since she was 6. She’s now a second-degree black belt and will test for her third in February.

The team had a day to explore Cuba, which Maia said was a bit like a social studies class.

“The island is very small,” she said. “We learned about the camps, and the prisoners. It was amazing.”

She also got a taste of independence. She and her California friend stayed in an apartment, did their own food shopping and cooked their own meals.

Preparing for the trip and getting ready for the show didn’t give Maia much time to really think about what she and her team were about to do.

“I didn’t even realize until we were actually performing what an honor it was to be there, and to be performing for the troops,” she said. “They were so nice, and they really loved our performance. Once day we had lunch with them, and they went around the room and told us about themselves, and where they’re from. It was really an honor.”

Most recently, Maia and Sideswipe performed in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.